The night brought one of the most significant moments of the offshore season as Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm crossed the finish line in Boka Bay at 23:15 CEST on Sunday, winning the fifth and final leg of The Ocean Race Europe 2025 and with it the overall title.
The French entry completed the 1,600-nautical mile course from Genoa to Montenegro in 7 days, 8 hours, 13 minutes and 33 seconds, collecting the maximum seven points. The result capped a remarkable campaign that included victories in the first three legs, maximum scoring gate points, a third place in Leg 4, and now a decisive final win. With a total of 48 points, Biotherm secured an unassailable lead and were confirmed as champions of the 2025 edition.
Since leaving Genoa on 7 September, Biotherm had been among the leading group on a route that proved complex and demanding. The fleet tracked down the western coasts of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily before turning north into the Adriatic. The opening days were painfully slow, with light thermal breezes that barely allowed progress, followed later by almost continuous thunderstorms, heavy rain, and dramatic lightning. In contrast, there were also bursts of high-speed foiling at over 34 knots.
Paprec Arkéa tried a bold move to the east along the Albanian coast in search of stronger winds, but the gamble did not succeed. Meilhat, with Amélie Grassi, Benjamin Ferré, and Spain’s Carlos Manera on board, stuck to a controlled tactical plan, covering their rivals closely in the final upwind stretch and closing out the race with authority.
On stepping ashore, Meilhat admitted he had not yet absorbed the scale of the result but highlighted the collective effort: “The preparation of the boat was flawless, we did not break anything in more than a month at sea, and that allowed us to get the best performance. This race was our main target for over a year, and winning it shows that all the work was worthwhile.”
Behind them, Holcim-PRB crossed the line at 00:35 on Monday, a second place that Rosalin Kuiper described as a major comeback after being more than 150 miles behind earlier in the leg. “It was like restarting the race from zero, so we are very happy with this result and it keeps us in the fight for the overall podium.”
Team Malizia finished at 01:30, with navigator Will Harris reflecting on the ups and downs of the week: “There were moments when we caught up a huge number of miles and others when we lost them again, but we can be proud of this third place in conditions that were not our strength.”
At 03:25 Allagrande Mapei arrived in fourth, having led for long periods, with skipper Ambrogio Beccaria describing the leg as “a real odyssey, with powerful downwind sailing, then flat seas at 35 knots, and finally the frustration of being slowed near the coast.”
Paprec Arkéa followed at 04:10, their eastern gamble having cost them in the final hours. Skipper Yoann Richomme accepted the outcome with honesty: “We took the option along the Albanian coast and it did not pay off, that is part of racing.”
The overall standings remain close behind Biotherm. Paprec Arkéa hold second place, but by only half a point from Holcim-PRB, so the final coastal race on Saturday will decide the rest of the podium.
The official prize giving will take place on 21 September in Boka Bay, Montenegro, where the fleet will close a five-week, 4,500-nautical mile tour of Europe that has tested every aspect of offshore sailing.
